Hanging canister set



July 20, 1965 J. B. NOLAN HANGING CANISTER SET Filed Nov. 19, 1962INVENTOR. JAMES B. NOLAN,

,Mzl 7/ ATTO R N EYB.

United States Patent 3,31%,967 HANGlN-G (IANKSTER James B. Nolan,Cincinnati, Ghie, assignor to The F. H. gawsen Company, Cincinnati,Ghio, a corporation of Filed Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 23$,636 4 Elaims.(Ci. 312 246) This invention has to do with canister sets, and relatesmore particularly to canisters which may be suspended under a shelf, akitchen cabinet, a utility cabinet, or other supporting surface.

Customarily such canisters are provided insets of four or five tocontain such everyday household items as flour, sugar, salt, coffee, andtea. For the most part they comprise conventional receptacles-usually ofcylindrical configuration-having a closed bottom and a lid or cover atthe top. Such canisters are normally kept in the kitchen,

either on a counter top or other work surface, or else on a shelf. Sincethe items in the canisters are usually in daily use, they are most oftenkept where they are readily available to the housewife, and this oftenmeans that they occupy valuable space which might otherwise be used as awork area.

Accordingly, a principal object of the instant invention is theprovision of a hanging canister which may be readily suspended from theunder side of a wall cabinet, shelf, or the like, so that the canisterwill be readily accessible to the user while at the same time freeingadditional counter or shelf space for other purposes. Such arrangementis also advantageous in that the canisters need not be moved whencleaning the counter, shelf or the like.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of a hangingor suspended canister construction in which the bracket means by whichthe canister is suspended also serves as a top closure or cover for thesuspended canister.

Still a further object of the invention is the provision of a canisterof the character described wherein sealing engagement between thecanister body part and the cover forming part of its mounting bracket iseffected by the weight of the canister and its contents, i.e. by thepull of gravity, the canister body being secured to its cover part bymeans of inturned flanges which overlie the cover part so that thecanister will hang by its own weight and hence seal itself when in theclosed position.

Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of acanister construction of the character described incorporating lockingmeans for releasably securing the canister in the closed position, suchmeans being readily releasable when it is desired to remove the canisterfrom the cover part so as to expose its contents.

The foregoing, together with other objects of the instant inventionwhich will appear hereinafter or which will be apparent to the skilledworker in the art upon reading this specification, I accomplish by thatconstruction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describecertain exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a set of wall cabinetsillustrating a series of canisters in accordance with the instantinvention suspended therebeneath.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View illustratingthe attachment of a canister to its combined mounting bracket and coverpart.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of a canister and mountingbracket in accordance with the instant invention.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an alternate form of mounting bracketadapted for attachment to a vertical support.

Referring first to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the refer- Eddiifih?Patented July 20, 1965 ence numeral 1 indicates a series ofcanisterswhicl1 may be of varying sizessuspendcd from the under surface2 of a conventional set of wall hung kitchen cabinets 3. As will beexplained more fully hereinafter, the canisters are mounted for to andfro sliding movement, and to this end are provided with handles 4 bymeans of which they may be readily gripped both for sliding movement andfor removal from their mounting brackets.

Preferably the canisters will be of generally rectangular configurationhaving a body part composed of bottom, side and end walls joinedtogether to form an open top receptacle. As possibly best seen in FIGURE3, the opposite side walls of each canister terminate upwardly ininturned flanges or tracks 5 and 6. Similarly, the front end wall of thecanister is provided with an inturned flange 7 which, as best seen inFIGURE 2, terminates inwardly in a rolled edge or lip 8.

Referring again to FIGURE 3, the flanges or tracks 5 and 6 are adaptedto slidably receive the opposite side edges of the cover plate or top 9which also forms a part of a mounting bracket which, in the embodimentillustrated, comprises a bracket member 10 having oppositely directedflanges 11 and 12 extending outwardly from its uppermost edge, suchflanges being provided with openings l3 and 14 into which screws 15(FIGURE 2) may be inserted for engagement with the under surface of thecabinet 2. Similar flanges, such as the flange 16, project oppositelyoutwardly from the lowermost edges of the bracket, and these may be spotwelded, as at 17, or otherwise secured to the uppermost surface of thecover plate 9.

As will be evident, the width of the cover plate 9 will be such that itsopposite side edges will slide beneath the flanges or tracks 5 and d;and to this end the upper edge 18 of the rear wall of the canister bodyis displaced downwardly by a distance sufficient to permit the forwardor leading edge of the cover plate 9 to freely pass beneath the flanges.

At its leading edge, the cover plate 9 is preferably provided with acorrugated portion or groove 19 adapted, when the parts are in theclosed position, to mate with the rolled edge or lip 55 on the frontflange 7, in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2, thereby releasablysecuring the parts together in the closed position. In addition, it ispreferred to provide the cover plate with a downturned flange Ztl havinga strip 21 of resilient cushioning material on its inner surface whichwill make sealing contact with the upper marginal edge of the rear endwall of the canister body when the parts are in the closed position.

As should now be evident, when the canister body is associated with thecover plate of the mounting bracket and the parts moved to the closedposition of FIGURE 2, the canister will be completely sealed, the weightof the canister and its contents acting to effect sealing contactbetween the flanges or tracks 5 and 6 and the marginal side edges of thecover plate. Similarly, along its front end edge, the lip 8 seats in thecorrugation or groove 19 to effect a tight engagement of the parts; andat the rear end of the canister body, the downturned flange 2t and theresilient strip 21 will effect a tight closure. Obviously, the strip 21will also serve as a bumper to cushion closing movement of the canister.When it is desired to remove the canister from the mounting bracket, apulling force on the handle 4 will cause the lip 8 to be disengaged fromthe groove 19, whereupon the canister body may be either moved to anopened position or else removed from the mounting bracket. referably theleading edge 22 of the cover plate will be inclined downwardly in themanner best seen in FIGURE 2 so that when the canister body part isreturned to its closed position, the lip 8 will strike the downwardlyinclined lip 22 and be deflected upwardly thereby so that the lip willreadily engage in the groove 19, thereby securing the parts in theclosed position.

lying and supported on opposite marginali'side' edges of said coverplate, a groove in said cover plate adjacent the The materials fromwhich thetcanisters and the mounting brackets are constructed does notconstitute a limita? tion on the instant invention, although apreference is expressed for either light weight stainless steel oraluminum. Obviously, however, the. parts could be fabricated I fromdiverse other materialsrhaving the requisite strength i.

and'flexibility to carry out the objectives of the invention.

In FIGURE 4, I have illustratedan alternative form of mountingbracketsuitable for attachment to a vertical support. In this instance thebracket member 23 is of generally triangular configuration with thecover part engaging flanges 24, 25 extending outwardly from the baseedge of-the bracket, Whereas the wall engaging flanges 26, 27 projectoutwardly from the rear or vertical edge of the bracket.

Having, howeverfdescribed the invention in an ex- I einplary embodiment,and with the understanding that modifications may be made thereinWithout departing from its spirit and purpose, what I desire tosecureiand protect by Letters Patent is: r Y

to a supporting surface.

front edge thereof for engaging and releasably securing the lip portionon said front flange, a downturned flange on the rear edge of said coverplate for contact with the rear wallof said'body part, and bracket meanssecured totheupper surface off said cover plate for attaching it 2. Thestructure claimed in claim 1 wherein a resilient cushioning material issecured to the inner surface of the downturned flange on said coverplate. v

3; The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said bracket means includesa horizontally disposed flange positioned so as to be juxtaposed to ahorizontally disposed support ing surface. a

' 4. The structure claimed in claim '2 wherein said mounting bracketincludes a vertically disposed flange positioned lsoias to be juxtaposedto a vertically disposed supporting 1. A hanging canister comprising abody part havin g a bottom; front, rear and sidewalls terminatingupwardly in an open top, side flanges projecting inwardly frorn'theupper edges of said side Walls, a front flange projecting inwardly fromthe upper edge of said front wall, said front flange terminating alongits free side edge in a lip portion, and mounting means for suspendingsaid body part from :a supporting surface, said mounting meanscomprising a cover plate of a size to closethe open top 7 of said bodypart with the said inturned side flanges overv FRANK JSHERRY, Primary Exminer. CHANCELLOR HARRIS, Examiner.

1. A HANGING CANISTER COMPRISING A BODY PART HAVING A BOTTOM, FRONT,REAR AND SIDE WALLS TERMINATING UPWARDLY IN AN OPEN TOP, SIDE FLANGESPROJECTING INWARDLY FROM THE UPPER EDGES OF SAID SIDE WALLS, A FRONTFLANGE PROJECRING INWARDLY FROM THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID FRONT WALL, SAIDFRONT FLANGE TERMINATING ALONG ITS FREE SIDE EDGE IN A LIP PORTION, ANDMOUNTING MEANS FOR SUSPENDING SAID BODY PART FROM A SUPPORTING SURFACE,SAID MOUNTING MEANS COMPRISING A COVER PLATE OF A SIZE TO CLOSE THE OPENTOP OF SAID BODY PART WITH THE SAID INTURNED SIDE FLANGES OVERLYING ANDSUPPORTED ON OPPOSITE MARGINAL SIDE EDGES OF SAID COVER PLATE, A GROOVEIN SAID COVER PLATE ADJACENT THE FRONT EDGE THEREOF FOR ENGAGING ANDRELEASABLY SECURING THE LIP PORTION ON SAID FRONT FLANGE, A DOWNTURNEDFLANGE ON THE REAR EDGE OF SAID COVER PLATE FOR CONTACT WITH THE REARWALL OF SAID BODY PART, AND BRACKET MEANS SECURED TO THE UPPER SURFACEOF SAID COVER PLATE FOR ATTACHING IT TO A SUPPORTING SURFACE.